At its July 2020 meeting, the Transportation Planning Board approved the National Capital Trail Network, a 1,400-mile, continuous network of long-distance, off-street trails, serving the entire region. The COG Board of Directors endorsed the network at its August 2020 meeting.
The network will be used to prioritize funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program and the Transportation – Land Use Connections (TLC) Program. The network will also be included in the update of the overall Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan in fiscal year 2021.
The network will provide healthy, low-stress access to open space and reliable transportation for people of all ages and abilities, and an environmentally friendly alternative to driving and other motorized travel.
Check out the updated 2024 National Capital Trail Network map.
How the trail network came to be
In 2014-2016, the TPB’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee developed the Bicycle Beltway at the direction of the then-TPB Chair Jay Fisette. This was the original vision for what later became National Capital Trail. It began as a high-quality circumferential bicycle and pedestrian route around the core of the region, it was to be suitable for both transportation and recreation, serve people of all ages and abilities, and link places where people live, work, and play, transit stations, and other attractions.
The National Park Service incorporated the bicycle beltway concept into its 2016 Paved Trails Plan, making some adjustments to the routing, and re-branding it the “National Capital Trail”.
The Capital Trails Coalition, an alliance housed at Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Rails to Trails, also adopted the National Capital Trail concept. The Capital Trails Coalition made it the core of their regional trails plan, known as the Capital Trails Network, which was completed in Fall 2018.
The National Capital Trail was incorporated into the TPB’s long-range transportation plan, Visualize 2045, as an aspirational initiative. TPB adopted Visualize 2045 in October 2018.
In December 2018, the TPB directed staff to expand the National Capital Trail into a regional trail network that would include all TPB member jurisdictions, building on previous work done by TPB and others.
TPB staff then gathered data from the Capital Trails Coalition, and from jurisdictions and areas not included in the coalition’s plan, such as Charles, Frederick, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties, or that have made major recent updates to their planned bicycle network, such as Montgomery County.
What is included in the trail network?
The National Capital Trail Network is intended to be a network of long-distance, off-street facilities. It will be accessible for people of all ages and abilities, designed for non-motorized use, and suitable for both transportation and recreation.
Off-street path width minimums are 10 feet for new construction, 8 feet for existing paths. Paths must be paved or firm surface. On-street facilities must be protected from moving traffic (i.e. parked cars, curbs, or flexposts). All facilities must be directly connected to the network. Short on-street connections on low-volume, low speed streets are permitted to maintain network continuity. Facilities can be existing or planned, but they must be in an approved agency plan.